Murder Was The Case: Top 10 Celebrities Arrested For Homicidal Tendencies

Last week, truth-seeking media mogul and icon of inspiration, Oprah Winfrey, told the press that she would like to get ex pro-football player and convicted felon, O.J. Simpson, to confess to the alleged murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and Ronald Goldman in 1994. Acquitted of this charge in 1995, O.J. Simpson has gone on to be found guilty for numerous felonies including kidnapping and robbery.

If O.J. Simpson were to confess his guilt to Oprah Winfrey, it would unlikely that he would be criminally charged because of the double-jeopardy law that keeps a defendant from being charged for the same crime after an acquittal.

Whether or not Simpson actually committed the crime, some of his celebrity peers were not so lucky when dealing with the criminal justice system. Here is our “bad boy” list of the Top 10 Celebrities Arrested For Homicidal Tendencies.

10.[lastfm link_type=””] Snoop Dogg[/lastfm]

Photo by Ethan Miller//Getty Images

Hip-hop phenom and rap mogul Snoop Dogg was charged in August 1993 for being an accomplice to the murder of Phillip Woldermarian–which was part of the inspiration for his famous song “Murder Was The Case.” However, in February 1996, celebrity lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, helped Snoop be found not guilty of all charges except voluntary manslaughter.

On May 13th of last year, Cruz he was arrested for allegedly soliciting three homeless people in Santa Monica to murder his wife, Jennifer Campbell. In October of 2010, Cruz pled no contest to a murder solicitation charge to get his attempted murder charge dropped. Cruz is currently serving a 9-year prison sentence.

In 1976, Duane “Dog” Chapman, better known as the reality television star Dog, The Bounty Hunter, joined a fellow gang member in a Texas marijuana buy. The drug deal went horribly wrong with the drug dealer being shot and killed by the other gang member. Dog was charged with murder, but served less that two years of his five-year prison sentence. He ended up becoming an inspiration to other criminals as the tough love bounty hunter on his television show.

Many people proclaimed the innocence of jury-acquitted silent film entertainer, Roscoe Conkling “Fatty” Arbuckle, after his arrest for the alleged rape and accidental murder of small time actress, Virgina Rappe, at a San Francisco party he threw in 1921. However, Arbuckle was never able to recover from his public scandal; his opportunities for work became sparse and some of his films were reportedly banned.

C-list actor, Michael Brea, had small parts in Ugly Betty and Step Up: 3D. He also allegedly stabbed his mother, Yannick Brea, to death with a samurai sword in a Brooklyn home. Brea was found by the police with bloody sword in hand.

Volatile godfather of punk rock, Sid Vicious of the band the [lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]Sex Pistols[/lastfm], was also known for his tumultuous, drug-riddled relationship with Nancy Spugen. In October 1978, Vicious woke up in the Hotel Chelsea to find Spugen stabbed once in the abodomen, apparently bleed to death.

Vicious was arrested and charged with her alleged murder, saying : “I stabbed her, but I didn’t mean to kill her. I loved her, but she treated me like shit.”

After an attempted suicide and an assault charge, Vicious was sent to Rikers Island and was later released on bail. Vicious died of a drug overdose while out on bail.

After killing an employee that owed him about $600, infamous boxing promoter, Don King, was sent to life in prison for murder in 1967. When the police found King, he would not stop hitting the victim–who died five days later in a hospital. King’s charges were eventually reduced to manslaughter and he only served about four years of his allotted 15 years.

Actor Robert Blake was tried and acquitted for the alleged 2001 murder of his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley, after she was shot outside of a Southern California eatery. Blake had a gun with him at the restaurant, but forensic evidence showed that Blake’s gun was not the same gun that killed his wife.

A year later, in April of 2002, Blake was arrested and charged in connection with the murder of his wife along with his bodyguard, Earle Caldwell. Subsequently, Blake was charged with one count of murder with special circumstances, two counts of solicitation of murder and one count of murder conspiracy–all of which he pleaded not guilty to.

Blake was eventually acquitted in 2005, although later that year, Bakley’s children sued and won for the wrongful death of their mother.

Music producer made most famous for creating the “Wall Of Sound,” Phil Spector was a huge part of the 1960s girl group sound and movement, working with artists like [lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]Tina Turner[/lastfm], [lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]The Ronnetes[/lastfm], [lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]John Lennon[/lastfm], and [lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]George Harrison[/lastfm].

In 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was found dead by firearm in Spector’s Alhambra, California mansion. Although Spector said Clarkson’s death was an “accidental suicide,” other women came forward and said Spector would allegedly hold them at gunpoint if they tried to leave his house.

After a mistrial, in 2008, Spector was convicted of murder in the second degree at his second trial. He was given a nineteen year prison sentence.

1. O.J. Simpson

Photo by Justin Sullivan//Getty Images

Orenthal James a.k.a “O. J.” Simpson was the infamous subject of media scrutiny after the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.

After Simpson was charged with their murders, he rallied together an intense litigation team and his trial is often called the “trial of the century.” In October of 1995, a jury gave the verdict of not guilty for both murders; The verdict was viewed live on television by much of the U.S. population